The other day, Hyrum declared himself a superhero and then grabbed the puppy and named him Sidekick. That was actually his name. Sidekick. He tried to put a cape on his reluctant helper, but Banner wasn’t having it. At least Sidekick has cool glowing green eyes. Now that’s awesome.

Don’t you love the underwear on the outside? No wonder his laundry piles up so fast.

To celebrate Porter’s huge accomplishments last week, we took the whole family bowling. Every time we go bowling, I am reminded of what an abysmal bowler I am. I don’t rack up very many points, but I absolutely love the company.

We got all dandied up and posed for some pictures the other day. In the middle of the shoot,  Hyrum decided to tell his favorite knock-knock joke.

Hyrum: Knock. Knock.

My sweet sister taking the pictures: Who’s there?

Hyrum: Run away.

My sister: Run away who?

And then Hyrum runs out of the room. And we all crack up.

I adore this family.

Last day of school. Summer is officially here. Water fights will take place. Casualties are inevitable. Sorry, Banner.

Hyrum comes in each day with a big handful of yellow flowers, lovingly picked one-by-one from the backyard, and hands them to me with a shy smile. Then he tells me, “You are the loveliest mom in the whole world.” Every single day. How did I get so lucky?

Did you know you can use sidewalk chalk to draw masterpieces on a trampoline? I didn’t! Thank you, Pinterest, for an idea that actually worked and entertained my boys for hours. Maybe I’ll forgive you for the chicken disaster of ’13.

I’m sure this never happens in a household of girls, but this is a regular occurrence at our house. Hyrum strips his French bread down to the crust, holds it over his eyes, and announces, “I’m Cyclops!” His brothers collapse in hysterics and Jared pronounces the similarity to be awesome. Then I always look around in confusion until finally one of the boys takes pity on me and patiently explains, “From X-Men, Mom.”

Last week we had the privilege of attending Porter’s end-of-year officer dinner and ceremony. They order sweaters, serve dinner, thank the old officers, swear in the new ones, and then at the very end of the evening they award the McKayla Holmes Excellence in Leadership Award to a few ninth-graders who have worked incredibly hard and set an amazing example of leadership. The student government advisor spoke for a few minutes about how they decide who gets the award each year. The officers are asked to nominate some kids, the student body has a say, the faculty and staff give some input, and then the top names are selected. McKayala Holmes herself was there to give the award. She picked up the plaque, looked around the silent room and announced, “Porter Farley!” I’m sure my jaw hit the floor, but Porter’s jaw hit first. He was shocked and we had to prod him out of his seat to go accept the award. The student government advisor spoke highly of Porter, praising him for his work ethic, his dependability, his respect, his kindness, and his gratitude each and every day. He said, “I thought it would get old after 167 days of Porter thanking me at the end of class for the lesson, but it didn’t. And then I started stalking him and I realized that he thanks all seven of his teachers each day as he leaves their class.” Then he announced, “Porter, you made history tonight. You are the first 7th grader in the history of Sandridge Junior High to receive the Excellence in Leadership Award.”

Here is Porter and the other officer who earned the award, she’s an 8th grader and one of Porter’s good friends.

Porter has really enjoyed the friendships he has formed this year as an officer. It’s a great group of kids and he has learned so much as they worked and served together. He’s really excited to be an 8th grade class officer next year. He won the election by over a hundred votes and was chosen to be 8th Grade Class President by the newly elected Student Body Officers.

The next night we went to the end-of-year awards ceremony for the junior high where Porter was recognized for his 4.0 GPA for the year. He was named Outstanding Student in Math, Outstanding Student in English, Outstanding Student in Science, and Outstanding Student in History. He was awarded the Earl B. and Mildred R. Cragun Citizenship Award which came with a $25 cash prize. And he was named Outstanding Scorpion for 7th Grade which came with a $10 iTunes gift card. He grinned from ear-to-ear and said, “See Mom, it pays to be smart!”

Porter, I don’t even know what to say to you sometimes. You continually exceed everyone’s expectations and instead of your continual success making you proud, I can see that it humbles you and drives you to work even harder. As a mother, I could not be more proud of you. I know there are people in your life who treat you poorly because you are so successful. They feel like it’s their job to put you down because they can’t stand the light shining so brightly from you. They begrudge you the attention you receive and make your life difficult, but please remember that you are so loved by so many. Don’t let the few who can’t stand greatness in anyone but themselves drag you down. Keep shining. We love you. We are so proud of you.

Lunch with my funny four-year-old. Just what I needed today.

Hyrum loves to sit on the little picnic table with Banner. And Banner is never happier then when he’s cuddled up next to Hyrum. But the table is really, really slippery for accident-prone puppies and Banner inevitably slides of the table in a yelping pile of fur and claws.

And Hyrum is always annoyed that his best friend can’t manage to stay on top of the table.

So he’ll drag the slightly dazed dog back on top of the table to begin the whole sliding process over again. Poor Banner. Good thing he’s fairly patient, for a puppy.